What would happen if I began by not saying “The Bible is God’s Word” but instead say “The Bible contains God’s Word”? What happens ends up looking like this: 1. If the Bible “contains” God’s Word, who decides which parts are and which parts are not God’s Word? (Very simply, each would decide for himself. I would decide for myself; you would decide for you.) 1a. If we each get to decide for ourselves we won’t ever agree. (Disagreeing about almost every part of faith is exactly what is happening among the liberal denominations.) 2. If I get to decide what is and isn’t God’s Word I will only accept the parts I already agree with anyway; and reject the other parts (and call them “out of date” or “irrelevant”). 3. And then I will never actually have God’s Word tell me I’m wrong and correct me. I will miss God’s call to repent, again and again. If God is not “just like me” I will miss Him. 4. In all this, I would have exalted myself over God’s Word, judging it instead of being judged by it. That is a place I do not want to be in my relationship with God.